Archive for December, 2008

Did you read our blog two days ago? … How similar (or otherwise) is snowkiting to kitesurfing on water?

We have shown some classic instances in the past of when one or other (snowboarding and kitesurfing) goes wrong – well, snowkiting is relatively new on our blog and here is another classic … although happily no-one appears injured, and thanks to BUZZZZ101 for posting it.

Although a bit noisy I think you can put it down to fear, concern and relief!

I’ve been into a forum re. this video and the general opinion is that it is genuine – there are no no edits and no sped-up digital moments! Lucky he held on!!!

And the answer is … yes they were.

Stephanie Gilmore Wins the Billabong Pro Maui, Claims Vans Triple Crown

However, the event didn’t go off without problems. There was no surf at Honolulu Bay, for the first time in the 10 year history of the event, and so the organisers were forced to move the final stages of the competition to Ho’okipa Beach Park on the northern side of Maui.

“Today marks the seventh day in a row that the Bay hasn’t had any waves,” Dino Andino, Billabong Pro Maui Contest Director, said. “We’re running out of time, and looking at the forecast, it doesn’t look like the swell is going to be big enough or the right direction until after the waiting period is finished. With that in mind, we’ll be relocating the venue to Ho’okipa Beach Park on the other side of the island where we’ll be looking to get the final day of Billabong Pro Maui competition underway at roughly 8am.”

“It’s a shame that we won’t be able to finish at the Bay but that’s how it is with surf contests,” Gilmore said. “We’re subject to swell patterns and Mother Nature and sometimes we need to make changes. It looks like tomorrow is going to be the biggest day at Ho’okipa which I’ve heard is a fun little wave so I’m stoked to get back in the water.”

However, Ho’okipa supplied the goods and the event was concluded yesterday, Thursday 18th December.

Gilmore, 20, claimed the Triple Crown when she eliminated an emotional seven-time world champion Layne Beachley from the semi-finals of the ASP women’s world tour event.

She then registered the highest score of the day – 9.57 – to beat Melanie Bartels in the final, 17.6 to 14.8.

“Mel is one of my favorite surfers and I just go as hard as I can when I draw her in a heat. You can’t put in a performance at half-speed, and I saw her get a solid wave so I just went for broke on the next one and it paid off. It feels incredible to win the Vans Triple Crown title, it’s a real honour to be considered a good surfer in Hawaii and in such a variety of conditions.”

Brazil’s Silvana Lima claimed the world No.2 ranking after being eliminated in the second semi-final by Bartels.

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This video from ASPWorldTour is Steph at the ASP World Tour event last month (November) – sorry but there’s nothing posted yet on the Pro Maui final event…

The guys from expertvillage have put together some great videos of ‘how to’ – the other day we were complaining about the gallons of water that have been dumped on us here in the south of France. Of course what that has also meant is that when you gain altitude that rain has turned to snow so tomorrow we are heading into the southern Alps for the first days skiing of the year.

As a result we thought we would put a couple of ‘how to’ videos onto the blog about matters which concern the snow and today we present, courtesy of expertvillage a how to buy skiing or snowboarding trousers/pants, where the rating system concerning waterproofing and breathability is explained, and then we look at some basic instruction on how to buy a freestyle snowboard.

Basically when it comes to waterproof clothing the thing to remember is that you must be comfortable – so you don’t have water and snow coming through your clothing but at the same time have a material which will breath to allow the sweat to escape – otherwise when you cool down you will get cold. Also remember you must allow room for additional ‘layer’ or ‘layers’ of clothing under your ski pants. Its common sense really, conditions can get bad when you are at 9,000 feet above sea level and if you are uncomfortable and cold you will not be having much fun.

So the waterproof rating goes from 5,000 to 30,000 – the higher the number the more expensive – 30,000 is probably for polar explorers so a score at that level may be OTT – they recommend a mid range rating of between15,000 and 25,000.

As for the freestyle snowboard – consultation with the shop sales assistants is highly recommended but in a nutshell if you are looking for a freestyle board they recommend a symmetrical board which is no higher than your shoulder height as this will assist your direct switch and you should have no problem in going in either direction – too short a board is unstable and difficult for learning tricks, too long a board is tough to control.

We will no doubt find plenty of guys in the Alps tomorrow – the French schools break up for Christmas – wherever you are we hope you stay warm and safe in the mountains.

They say that Snow Kiting is a lot easier to learn than kiteboarding on the water. This relatively new discipline is a combination between snowboarding and kiteboarding.

• It is easy to stand on snow, which makes the whole process easier.
• It also takes a lot less wind to drive a board across snow than it does across water.
• The whole learning experience is a lot less daunting as you need much less power and wind to get you moving.
• Finally, holding an edge in snow is much easier than in water making up-wind progress much easier to master.

Thanks to bada55ba55 for this video:

It strikes me that one of the best things about snowkiting is that you are not limited by access to mountains and lifts. Wherever there is snow covered terrain – you can kite. A major additional bonus is that, invariably, you will be kiting alone or with friends – but you are unlikely to be kiting with the masses. What better sport could there possibly be?

With the early snows across North America, Canada and Northern Europe, kiters have been out exploring. Check out the photo below – a group of friends from Colorado benefited from a couple of storms which hit the southwest corner of the state and gave them some great terrain on Red Mountain Pass between Ouray and Silverton:

You can snowkite anywhere where there’s a field, snow, wind, and space, and if you live in an area where the lakes freeze over and get powder – then that too makes for a good snowkite surface.

Caroline, a passionate snowkiter from Norway, has this to say of the sport:

“Snowkiting is the real deal. When you snowkite you use nature in a totally different way from snowboarding. When you snowkite you don’t use anything other than the wind and your kiting gear. The special thing about snowkiting is that you can ride into the mountains where nobody else has been before, and have fun messing about with your friends just doing what we love to do… When you snowkite, every day is unique, there is always something new, like the places you go, the weather conditions, new tricks, etc. The biggest difference from water-kiting (kitesurfing) must be that you can use your surroundings in a totally different way, like jumping down a cliff or riding in epic powder.”

Although a relatively new sport, snowkiting has already had 4 annual Snowkite Masters events and will be having its 5th in February/March 2009. Over 100 snowkiters from as far away as Tahiti took part in the 2008 event, held in Utah. The Kiter-Cross races gained the most popularity as participants and spectators were entertained by a fast and dynamic course. The terrain created unique challenges for competitors, with quick downwind-downhill runs and technical upwind-upslope reaches.

The 2009 event will be held on the weekend of 28th February, 2009, again at Skyline, Utah. The French Snowkite Masters will be held at Serre-Chevalier from the 10th – 17th Janaury. This event will match up the best French snowkite freestyle champions with the top British snowkite freestyle riders and a host of other snowkiters from around the globe.

Here’s another video, with thanks to mwiemarkus. Makes you want to leave all this rain behind, and rush up to northern Europe to find snow expanses like this. For you guys over there in America you must have vast areas where snowkiting can be done. Lucky things.

The annual hang gliding fest at the Forbes Flatlands aerodrome (NSW, Australia) kicks off on January 3rd 2009 – there are four separate classes and should you require further information may we suggest you click on the following link to reach their website http://www.moyes.com.au/Forbes2009/Default.aspx

In 2009 there will be four levels of competion to help cater for all levels of pilots and fun.

1. Open Class Category (aimed at pilots who are looking to get on their national teams, or close to it. The top twenty on any national ladder.)

2. A Class Category � For pilots that have never been in the top 100 WPRS (CIVL world ranking system). Same tasks at the Open Class. Scored together with the Open class, but singled out for recognition

3. Sport Class � Shortened Task – GPS required – Open to kingpost gliders (For less competition experienced pilots who want to learn more and stretch themselves with less than herculean tasks. Launching a bit later than Open and A Classes to get the better part of the day for the shorter task.)

4. Club Class – Duration and spot landing � Open to all gliders (For pilots who want to learn to aerotow, would like some extra attention and help, want to practice their thermaling and landing skills and hang with the big dogs. Launching after Sport Class. Must land before sunset.)

An aerotow endorsement course or aerotow training will also be available every morning starting at 9am.

EVENT ORGANISER: Sydney Hang Gliding Club

EVENT MANAGER: Vicki Cain

WHEN: 3rd-11th January 2009

WHERE: Forbes Airport, Forbes NSW Australia (5kms from town)

METHOD OF LAUNCH: Aerotow Only

CONTEST SANCTIONING: HGFA AAA and FAI WPRS

REGISTRATION & PRACTICE DAY: 2nd January, 2009

Entry fees are AU$200 and the aerotow fee, for unlimited tows including the practice day, is AU$350. Its going to be a cracking event and with reliable weather you are sure to find some great thermals – don’t miss out on all the fun.

Thanks to jacarandafilms for this video from the 2007 event

Last night we confidently predicted that Mike Golding in Ecover 3 would over haul Jean-Pierre Dick in Paprec-Virbrac whose rudder had been badly damaged when he had hit some unseen object. Golding was making great headway and did indeed take the lead and establish headway of some 30 nautical miles.

Bang – if the mother of a squall, Golding says was 55 knots, suddenly blasted his boat and blew his mast clean off – shattered at the stump. Golding is about 1000 miles south west of Perth and 1500 miles from Adelaide and would therefore appear to be in a spot of bother.

He takes up the story: ‘I was just out on deck when a squall came through with winds of 55knots. I had the main with two reefs and a reacher and had been like that for two hours. Overnight we had winds of up to 45k so I had two reefs and a staysail and then changed to the new configuration in the early morning,I was just getting into my jacket when the boat rounded up and then heeled right over. I heard a bang and immediately went back below deck and waited until the noise had stopped.”

‘The whole rig is down, there is not even a stump left. Once everything had settled down a bit I went back out and the mast was lying across the deck and was acting as an anchor. When things stopped moving about dramatically I set about cutting off the rig. There is some superficial damage to the boat, but nothing major.’

‘My options now are controlled by what I can set up as a jury and unfortunately I don’t have much left. I am about 1500nm south of Perth and Adelaide, so whatever the deal will be to try and cover 1500 miles somehow. I managed to save the boom but have lost all my sails, other than storm staysail but this will probably fit and then I will work out how to fly something off the back of that.”

‘But whatever I do, I will only be able to reach and will not be able to go up or downwind. I am gutted. But there is not much I can do about it.’

One tough race, one extreme sport and the funny things is we can’t find any relevant video action – strange how noone is floating around in the southern oceans, 1000 miles from anywhere, with their camcorder at the ready! Anyway we put out this one from chriscool8 – a teaser for the Vendee Globe 2008 – and it gives you a taste of the action, presentation of the skippers and the conditions and challenge they face – AWESOME.